This invention relates to a process for preparing aliphatic anhydrides from divinyl ethers and carboxylic acid.
Divinyl ethers may be synthesized by the process disclosed by Gillis and Schimmel, J. Org. Chem., 25, 2187-90 (1960).
Anhydrides are usually made by displacing chloride from an acid chloride by a carboxylate ion or by heating an acid with an acidic dehydrating agent, such as phosphorus pentoxide or acetic anhydride. These reactions require either high temperatures or generate inorganic waste products.